I think having an athletic guy who can shoot at a high percentage is a very valuable tool. The fact that he can't contribute much else means he might be a bench player on a contending team, as of right now. If he develops into a 20ppg/5rb/3ast player I would be happy.
Of course as we all know he still has room to grow, but that will mostly come in terms of playing effective team basketball and being a reliable scoring threat. Thus, a valuable team player or a good trade candidate.

Green is actually shooting a higher percentage on his jumpers (both this year and last year). Plus, Green gets to the line more often. I'm just curious as to why everyone (including me) gives Thad a break and kills Green no matter what he does. Is it because Thad isn't a ball-hog? Younger? More potential? All of the above?

Willie just has poor shot selection, he can take shots at the worse times (and tends to miss them when they matter most). If Green is shooting jumpers better than Thad it also has to mean Green is finishing worse at the basket, as I'm quite sure Thad's overall FG% is higher.

And don't get me started with Willie's effort on the defensive end. Thad has been below par but Green has been a poor defender for years.

One thing I don't understand, the improvement in his jumper has coincided with a severe drop in his free throw shooting. Suddenly he's shooting worse from the line than Iggy?

I know he can score, but he does need to do a bit more to be an effective starter in this team, especially if AI is really going to come and start. His rebounding has to improve at least slightly whereas as long as he puts in enough effort defensively he should be fine.

His assists and steals being down must have to do with playing the 4 more but how can his rebounds not go up.Watching Iggy play Sheed a while back makes me think he is a better 4 than Thad, I hope our coach didn!t hear that !!! Guys, if L.Will. and Spieghts didn!t get hurt what would our record be ? We aren!t defending but seem to be scoring better, typical Jordan team, but would we be close to 500?

I'd say we'd be in stiff competition with Toronto rather than the Knicks. And by that I mean, the sixers probably would've won the Memphis and Washington games (I think Speights would've made that much of a difference, anyway).

I will say this (not a Thad lover). I think (and always have thought) Thad is a reserve player on a good team until he improves his defense substantially.

I can handle the lack of ball skills, no right hand, no passing game, weak rebounding, lack of free throw attempts and general softness if he defending his ass off consistently. Then he could be a starter and command starter minutes.

But when you only impact the game when you shoot and nowhere else I can't see how you can justify him being anything more than a scorer off the bench.

I like Thad, I don't love him and never understood the hype surrounding him. He has played the same way for 2 years and 18 games. His jumper hopefully keeps improving but I just don't believe he will ever become a complete player.

And you know what, that's okay. Whenever this team gets better we will need solid offensive players who don't turn the ball over to come off the bench to spell our top guys. We just have to hope in a year or two when it's money time the Sixers don't blow their load unjustifiably on a one-dimensional player.

Allen Iverson informed the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday morning that he will accept their one-year, non-guaranteed offer. The contract is for a pro-rated veteran's minimum of $1.3 million.

"In light of the recent injury to Lou Williams, which will sideline him for close to eight weeks, we felt that Allen was the best available free agent guard to help us at this time," team president Ed Stefanski said.

I'll add my 2c about Thad before the board goes back to all AI all the time...

I see Thad ans Speights as being similar right now in terms of development. Right now Thad (at 21) has a limited skill set. If he goes out of his comfort zone and tries to create and draw fouls then he struggles. He lacks the handle or polish to be effective.

But if he sticks to being a scorer, and thinks less about being a complete player, he can be a dangerous weapon. Same thing works for Speights. He's a good scorer right now, knows it, and goes with it. If Speights tried to get fancy he would not be as effective.

Both players should be able to add to their all around game with time. But right now their ability to score is way ahead of the rest of their game. Especially their defense.

For now be more one dimensional, because that is how you will best help the team. Just like we want Kapono to shoot and not play PG. We want Thad and Speights to score and shoot over 50%. I expect the rest of their game to round into form over the next 3 years.

You can't look at players 21 or 22 and expect all aspects of their games are polished.

You raise some good points. My post was only discussing why his scoring and efficiency went up while assists and FT's went down.

First rebounding and defense...

Thad was a lousy rebounder for his size in college. Draft express pointed it out before he was drafted (only player at least 6'8" to grab less than 4 reb/36min I believe.) He has good length (8'10" reach) but flat out is not a good rebounder. Nor does he protect the cup or block shots well.

I do not see Thad as a legit starting PF in the NBA now or in the future, unless he really bulked up and changed his game (which is unlikely.) I see Thad at PF as a gimmick, change of pace sort of thing. Good only for short runs.

At SF Thad's defensive issues are different. I think (but could be wrong) that he just needs more time and coaching to become a good wing defender. he has the tools and desire, but his positioning is wrong. He plays the wing like you are coached to play inside. He flows to far away from his man and can't recover to stop 3pt shots.

This is correctable. It is even understandable given how little time Thad has spent outside the lane in his life. I see it as more of a temporary issue, but I could be proven wrong with time.

As for an extension in summer 2011, that is a common problem when 22-23 year olds come up for extensions. There were big question marks in terms of long term development when Lou and Josh Smith came up for extensions. They had proven themselves as NBA players, but after 4 years were they just starting to tap into their potential, or were they pretty much already in their prime?

I want to see Thad at SF for the next 1.75 seasons. That should be enough time to learn if he can play the position on both ends. Enough to see if he has a chance to be an elite SF or is he headed to be a variation of Hakeem Warrick.

If Thad is a effecient scorer and solid defender at SF by the end of next year you have to at least consider giving him big money (8-10M/yr.) I say consider, because it could be an issue if by that time we learn that Iguodala can't thrive at SG. Right now we don't know for either player. I fear we won't know because EJ will leave them at SF/PF most of the time (Bebop's refrain.) Really, this should have already been worked on going back to last season.

If Thad can't establish himself at SF (on both ends) then I think he should get top reserv e type money (MLE+) in order to be a combo forward off the bench. Even as a one dimensional scorer he should have real value- but might hurt you if used as a starter or in the wrong line-up.

"It will be interesting to see whether Eddie Jordan reinserts Elton Brand as a starter. Willie Green has taken over that spot and has played extremely well. He has averaged 20 points in the last two games, both starts, and has done his usual stellar job on defense . . . "